Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Workers in Leisure and … · Marcia Drew Hohn, Ed.D. ILC Director of Public Education Holly G. Jones ILC Guidance Counselor and ESOL Program

With Support From:

Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneursand Workers in Leisure and

Hospitality Businesses:Massachusetts and New England

About The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC)And The ILC Public Education Program

The ILC is a not-for-profit adult learning center located in Malden, Massachusetts. Founded in 1992, the mission of The ILC is to provide foreign-born adults with the English proficiency necessary to lead productivelives in the United States. As a way of continuing to help ILC students and all immigrants become successfulworkers, parents and community members, the school expanded its mission to include promoting immigrants asassets to America. This expanded mission is known as the Public Education Program.

The Public Education Program has four major initiatives to support the goal of promoting immigrants as contributors to America’s economic, social and cultural vibrancy.

• Business Sector Studies to examine the impact of immigrants as entrepreneurs, workers and consumers.• Professional Development for K-12 teachers on teaching immigration across the curriculum.• Briefing books with researched statistics on immigrant issues such as immigrants and taxes, immigrants and

jobs and immigrant entrepreneurship.• The Immigrant Theater Group.

Diane Portnoy is the co-founder and director of The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. and has been in the adulteducation profession for over 30 years as a certified teacher. Ms. Portnoy has received considerable recognitionlocally and nationally for her visionary leadership. The ILC has been cited as a model adult education programin Massachusetts.

The Public Education Program is under the direction of Marcia Drew Hohn who holds a doctorate in Humanand Organizational Systems and has over 20 years of experience in adult learning and systems development. Dr. Hohn has published extensively about organizational systems in adult basic education and developing healthliteracy among low-literate populations.

The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.442 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5117

(781) 322-9777www.ilctr.org

The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.Material may be reproduced in whole or in part if The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.

and the authors are credited.

The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. would like to thank Mystic View Design, Inc. and Merrill Corporation for their generous donationsof time, services and creativity in the design and printing of this report.

DirectorDiane Portnoy

Co-Founders

Diane PortnoyJoan Broude

Board of TrusteesArthur G. KoumantzelisILC Board Chair, AGK Associates LLC

Frank J. BaileyU.S. Bankruptcy Judge

Joel G. BeckmanNystrom Beckman & Paris LLP

Daniel F. BridgesRetired, Belmont Hill School ILC Volunteer

Fatima Z. ChibaneILC Instructor

Richard A. Davey, Jr.Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Patrick DonelanLifetime Board Member

Penny GarverSovereign Bank, New England

Roger F. Harris, Ph.D.Boston Renaissance Charter School

Marcia Drew Hohn, Ed.D.ILC Director of Public Education

Holly G. JonesILC Guidance Counselor and ESOL Program Coordinator

Esther N. KaringeMedford Public Schools

Joseph F. LawlessPatriot RC & Development Corp.

Christy Trang LeAlabaster Design

Gerard M. MartinNorth Atlantic Medical Services, Inc.

Richard M. O’KeefeCitizens Bank

Barry M. PortnoyReit Management and Research LLC

Vincent J. RiversPyramis Global Advisors/Fidelity Investments

John R. SchneiderMassINC

Jason SilvermanThe Silverman Group/Merrill Lynch

Kathy G. SmithILC Director of Development

Reena I. ThadhaniMintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C.

Stanley J. Usovicz, Jr.Verizon

Anne L. WilliamsWashington Mills Corporation

ILC Board of Trustees

www.mystic-view.com

Mystic View Design and Merrill Corporation proudly support the efforts of The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.

www.merrillcorp.com


Hospitality Businesses: Massachusetts and New England

Prepared for The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.

Malden, Massachusetts

By

James Jennings, PhD

Julia Jordan-Zachery, PhD

C. Eduardo Siqueira, MD, ScD

Gia E. Barboza, PhD

Jennifer Lawrence, MA

Mary Jo Marion, MA

May 2010

Acknowledgements

The following individuals provided invaluable research-related and editorial assistance in the completion of thisreport: Dr. Victoria Fahlberg, Monica Gregoire, Briane C. Knight, Ana Luna, Trinh Nguyen and EugeniaGibbons. Much appreciation is extended to these individuals for their assistance, input and suggestions.

About the Authors

Dr. James Jennings is Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University. Dr.Jennings has studied local economic and community development and has co-authored several reports on immigrationin the areas of homeownership, health and entrepreneurship.

Ms. Mary Jo Marion is Executive Director of the Latino Education Institute (LEI) at Worcester State College. She hasover ten years of successful craftsmanship and research coordination experience most notably in the areas of workforcedevelopment and education. She has helped to supervise research studies on immigration while serving as AssociateDirector of the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Dr. Gia E. Barboza is currently Director of Research for the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Boston.Dr. Barboza's research includes examination about immigrant political incorporation especially with respect toLatinos. Dr. Barboza also holds a law degree with experiences in statistical analysis in the area of criminal justice.

Dr. C. Eduardo Siqueira is a MD and Assistant Professor of Community Health and Sustainability at theUniversity of Massachusetts Lowell. Recently, he directed a study examining the workplace safety and health challengesfacing Brazilian immigrant workers in Massachusetts.

Ms. Jennifer Lawrence is Director of Groundworks Somerville, a community-based organization. She has conductedand assisted research projects in the areas of immigration and community development.

Dr. Julia S. Jordan-Zachery is the Director of the Black Studies Program and an Assistant Professor of politicalscience at Providence College. She has co-authored the following reports: "Charter Renewal Application LEAPCharter School, Camden, NJ," (Rutgers University and Ford Foundation, 2000) and "The Latino Business ActivityCenter in Lawrence, Massachusetts: Accomplishments and Challenges 2000-2001," (Northern Essex CommunityCollege, 2001).

PrefaceIn 2003, The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC) launched a public education initiative to raise the visibilityof immigrants as assets to America. Spurred by certain anti-immigrant sentiments that were increasingly voicedafter September 11, The ILC set forth to credibly document current economic and social contributions.

Central to this effort are ILC-sponsored research studies about immigrants as entrepreneurs, workers and consumers.To provide thoughtful and substantive evidence that immigrants are vital contributors to our nation and to our state,The ILC commissioned teams of university researchers to examine immigrants’ contributions as entrepreneurs,workers and consumers and to present those contributions within larger economic and social frameworks.

With this study about immigrant entrepreneurs and workers in the New England Hospitality Industry, The ILChas now produced five studies that examine various dimensions of immigrant entrepreneurship in Massachusetts.These studies include:

• Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Neighborhood Revitalization (2005)• Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the Massachusetts Biotechnology Industry (2007)• The Rise of Asian-Owned Businesses in Massachusetts (2007)• Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Workers in the New England Hospitality Industry (2010)• Children of Immigrant Entrepreneurs (2010)

ILC studies have also examined immigrant workers in the Massachusetts Health Care Industry and immigrants’characteristics and their economic footprint in Massachusetts.

All these studies have informed policy and thoughtful dialogue about the key roles played by immigrants. Thisnew study about immigrants in the Hospitality Industry provides fresh data and insight into the key role immigrantsplay in an industry vital to the Commonwealth’s economy. It again raises the visibility of immigrants as criticalcontributors to the nation and to our state.

Diane Portnoy, Co-Founder and CEO/PresidentThe Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.

Marcia Drew Hohn, Director of Public EducationThe Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.

May 2010

Table of Contents

Summary of Key Findings

List of Tables, Charts & Figures

Introduction

Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Workers in 2Leisure and Hospitality Businesses

The Big PictureNational Overview 6Massachusetts and New England 8

Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Leisure and Hospitality Businesses

Immigrant Entrepreneurs in New England 12Characteristics 15Challenges 18

Immigrant Workers in Leisure and Hospitality Businesses

New England 24Massachusetts 25

Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Workers in Leisure and Hospitality Businesses: Voices from the Field

Interview and Survey Results 34

Conclusions

Five Policy Goals 39

Methodology 40

Footnotes and References

SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS

Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Leisure and Hospitality Businesses: Massachusettsand New England

• The entrepreneurship rate for foreign-born workers in Leisure and Hospitality businesses is higher than fornative-born workers.

• Foreign-born entrepreneurs tend to be concentrated in the “Traveler Accommodations” and “Restaurant and OtherFood Services” where they are well over one-third of all entrepreneurs in these sectors.

• These immigrant entrepreneurs are making an enormous and positive impact on local economies.

• Immigrant-owned businesses in the Hotel Accommodations sector tend to be small employing 10 or fewerindividuals.

• Immigrant men own more Leisure and Hospitality businesses than immigrant women at 63 percent of the total.

• Immigrant entrepreneurs in these businesses are more likely to hold advanced degrees than the native-born.

• Some major challenges facing immigrant entrepreneurs include:

• unfamiliarity with government resources and regulations;• accessibility to technical assistance programs;• lack of networking opportunities with larger and more established businesses; • lack of extended family support networks in the United States.

Leisure and Hospitality Businesses in Massachusetts and New England

• In 2006, the Leisure and Hospitality sector was the fourth largest employer in the Massachusetts private sectoremploying 302,547 workers or 9.3 percent of the state’s total employment.

• In this same year, Leisure and Hospitality generated approximately $6.4 billion in gross payroll.

• Foreign-born workers are a critical source of labor for Leisure and Hospitality businesses in Massachusetts andNew England. In Massachusetts, approximately 25.5 percent of all workers in this industry sector are foreignborn followed by Connecticut with 21.2 percent and Rhode Island at 10.8 percent.

• Foreign-born workers in Massachusetts comprise more than one-third of the total workforce in businessesassociated with hotel and travel accommodations. They also represent nearly one-quarter of all workers inrestaurants and businesses providing food services.

• Brazilians and Dominicans are the largest number of foreign-born workers in Massachusetts Leisure andHospitality businesses.

• In spite of the 2009 economic downturn, worker shortages are a continuing concern in the Leisure andHospitality industry throughout New England.

•Leisure and hospitality businesses are very dependent on immigrant labor.

• Major workforce challenges facing the overall sector include:

• lack of adequate English-language learning opportunities;• recruitment of workers in a context of shifting immigration policies; • retention of workers; • creating career development opportunities for workers;• incorporation of worker rights particularly in instances where businesses are reliant on workers classified

as part-time, seasonal or temporary; • availability and access to training opportunities for individuals interested in pursuing careers in Leisure

and Hospitality; • low promotion of Leisure and Hospitality careers on the part of higher education and other sectors.

LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES

Table 1: NAICS Leisure & Hospitality Descriptions and Codes

Table 2: NAICS Category Code 71 and 72 – Total Workers and Entrepreneurs, Native-and-Foreign-Born in the U.S.

Table 3: Employment in Leisure & Hospitality Businesses, Massachusetts 2006 – 2009 (in thousands)

Table 4: Leisure & Hospitality Businesses by Employee Size, Sales Volume and State

Table 5: Massachusetts Leisure & Hospitality Industry Native-and-Foreign-Born Owned Businesses

Table 6: Massachusetts Leisure & Hospitality Industry (Native-Born and Foreign Born) Entrepreneurs byEducational Attainment

Table 7: Leisure & Hospitality – New England Workforce – Percent Native vs. Percent Foreign-Born

Table 8: Leisure & Hospitality – New England Workforce – Percent Foreign-Born and Total Workforce

Table 9: Massachusetts Leisure and Hospitality Businesses Employment, 2007 – 2009 (in thousands)

Table 10: Massachusetts Leisure & Hospitality Industries – Percent Foreign-Born by Job Category

Table 11: Foreign-Born Workforce Distribution in Massachusetts by Ethnicity/Country of Origin

Table 12: Percentage Distribution of Foreign-Born Workforce in Massachusetts by Ethnicity/Country of Origin

Table 13: Foreign-Born Workforce Percent Distribution in Massachusetts by Gender

Table 14: Native-Born Workforce Percent Distribution in Massachusetts by Gender

Table 15: Massachusetts Total NAICS Native-and-Foreign-Born Workforce by Schooling Level in Leisure andHospitality Businesses

Table 16: Native-and-Foreign-Born Workforce Traveler Accommodations and Restaurants and Other FoodServices by Educational Attainment

Table 17: H-2B VISA Application Program – Labor Needs v. Workers Certified (2007)

Chart 1: Entrepreneurs in Travel and Hotel Accommodations by Nativity and Foreign-Born by Number ofEmployees in New England

Chart 2: Total Number and Percentage of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Workers in Traveler Accommodation& Restaurant & Other Food Services Industries In New England

Chart 3: Hospitality Programs in Higher Education, New England

Figure 1: Massachusetts Leisure & Hospitality Businesses: Business Concentration by Zip Code

INTRODUCTION

For the purpose of this report, the terms foreign-born and immigrant are used interchangeably.Foreign-born is the term used by official data sources.

I N T R O D U C T I O N 2

This report documents and examines the role andimpact of immigrant entrepreneurs and workers onLeisure and Hospitality businesses in New Englandwith a concentration on Massachusetts.1 A significantportion of state economies in New England, especiallyin Massachusetts, relies heavily on the employment ofthe foreign-born.2 As the native workforce ages andpopulation growth declines, native-born participationin Leisure and Hospitality businesses also wanes.Regionally, these businesses are becoming increasinglydependent upon the availability of the foreign-born.This development has facilitated an increasingly significant presence and role of immigrant entrepreneursin Leisure and Hospitality businesses that is documentedfor the first time in this report.

Given the importance of this new information, dataabout immigrant entrepreneurs in Leisure andHospitality businesses is presented first following abrief overview of the overall industry. Four immigrantentrepreneurs and one manager from across NewEngland are highlighted through interviews conductedby members of the research team. The entrepreneursexplain why they decided to start or build a business aswell as some information about the size and capacity oftheir businesses. They discuss what they see as majorchallenges facing the successful operation of thebusinesses including the impact of government andpublic policy.

Table 1:

NAICS Leisure & Hospitality Descriptions and Codes

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation, and Accommodation and Food Services 71-712

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 71

Independent artists, performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries 711

Museums, art galleries, historical sites, and similar institutions 712

Bowling centers 71395

Other amusement, gambling, and recreation industries 713 exc. 71395

Accommodation and Food Services 72

Traveler Accommodations 7211

Recreational Vehicle Parks and Camps, and Rooming and Boarding Houses 7212, 7213

Restaurants and Other Food Services 722 exc. 7224

Drinking places, alcoholic beverages 7224

Industry Description NAICS Code

Source: Career Guide to Industries (BLS, 2009). Available at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cg1009.htm.

Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Workers in Leisure and Hospitality Businesses

I M PA C T O F I M M I G R A N T E N T R E P R E N E U R S A N D W O R K E R S I N L E I S U R E A N D H O S P I T A L I T Y B U S I N E S S E S 3

The report then presents information about thecharacteristics of the foreign-born workforce and itsimpact on the economies in Massachusetts and NewEngland. A summary statistical profile of the UnitedStates, New England and Massachusetts showing thenumber of entrepreneurs and workers in the varioussubsectors is presented. This is followed by findingsbased on observations and input by key informantsrepresenting various levels of the Leisure andHospitality industry.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)’s Career Guide toIndustries 2008-2009 Edition categorizes the Leisureand Hospitality businesses into: Arts, Entertainmentand Recreation; Food Services and Drinking Places;and Hotels and Other Accommodations. This reportexamines the latter two categories. As noted in Table 1,the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation and theAccommodation and Food Services industries are quitevaried. The BLS is currently using the North AmericanIndustrial Classification System (NAICS) to providemore detailed distinctions between business typesunder these general categories. The NAICS codes forLeisure and Hospitality are 71 and 72. The focus of thisstudy is category code 72, Accommodations and FoodServices. It is this subsector data that this report targets.In particular, this study targets 7211, TravelerAccommodation and 722, Restaurants and Other FoodServices. These two categories tend to employ thegreatest proportion of immigrant workers withinLeisure and Hospitality businesses.

THE BIG PICTURE

National Overview

Leisure and Hospitality businesses represent one of thenation’s largest economic sectors.3 The Bureau of LaborStatistics (BLS) reported 524,000 food service anddrinking places in the United States in 2006. With 9.6million wage and salary jobs in this same year, theindustry represents one of the country’s largestemployers.4 In the same year, the Hotel and OtherAccommodations industry included approximately62,000 establishments across the United States consistingof “all types of lodging from luxurious 5-star hotels toyouth hostels and RV (recreational vehicle) parks.”

While many simply provide a place to spend the night,others cater to longer stays by providing food service,recreational activities and meeting rooms. Hotels andmotels comprise the majority of establishments inthis industry.”5

In August 2007, the total employment in Leisure andHospitality businesses was 13.6 million workersincluding 11.6 million under Accommodation andFood Services.6 This number is projected to grow to15 million workers by the year 2016. According to theBLS, all occupations in this area are projected to growby 13.9 percent between 2006 and 2016.7 Specificoccupations within this sector such as managers, foodmanagers, fast food and counter workers, janitors andcleaners, landscaping workers, sales representatives,desk clerks, maintenance and repair workers and driversare expected to surpass this projected, overall rate interms of new jobs.8

In the report “Building a Competitive Workforce:Immigration and the U.S. Manufacturing Sector,” theImmigration Policy Center notes that 20 percent of theworkforce in Arts, Entertainment, Hospitality, FoodServices is foreign-born (Bartlett, 2006).9 This isamong the highest proportion of foreign workers vis-à-vis native workers in twelve of the nation’s key nationaleconomic sectors. Foreign-born workers comprise asignificant proportion of all workers in some of theLeisure and Hospitality subsectors in the United States.Table 2, based on data reported by the 2007 AmericanCommunity Survey, shows the NAICS category

distribution of workers and entrepreneurs (self-employed) by nativity and foreign-born status.

Immigrant workers across the nation represented 29.5percent of all workers under Traveler Accommodationand 19.9 percent of all workers in the Restaurants andOther Food Services. They comprised 10.8 percent ofall workers in Other Amusement, Gambling andRecreation Industries. However, they were virtuallyabsent in the area of Bowling Centers as well asRecreation Vehicle Parks, Camps, Rooming andBoarding Houses.

Immigrant entrepreneurs represented 35.6 percent ofall self-employed persons in the area of TravelerAccommodations and 37.6 percent of all entrepreneursfound in the Restaurants and Other Food Services sector.A little more than ten percent of all self-employedpersons are immigrants in the subsectors ofRecreation Vehicle Parks, Camps, Rooming andBoarding Houses (10.7 percent) and only a handful ofimmigrant entrepreneurs are found in the area ofBowling Centers or Other Amusement, Gambling andRecreation Industries.



Table 2:

NAICS Category Code 71 and 72 - Total Workers and Entrepreneurs, Native-Born and Foreign-Born in the U.S.

Bowling Centers 71,226 68,815 2,411 0.03 4,701 4,518 183 0.04

Other Amusement, Gambling,

& Recreation Industries 2,536,605 2,262,431 274,174 10.80 129,163 119,878 9,285 0.07

Traveler Accommodation 1,918,762 1,352,582 566,180 29.50 58,070 37,354 20,716 35.67

Recreation Vehicles Parks,Camps,

Rooming & Boarding Houses 243,395 231,170 12,225 0.05 12,841 11,464 1,377 10.72

Drinking Places,

Alcoholic Beverages 331,833 301,299 30,534 9.20 37,952 33,912 4,044 10.65

Restaurants and Other

Food Services 11,049,218 8,844,259 2,204,959 19.95 475,976 296,646 179,330 37.67

Total Native- Foreign- % Foreign- Total Self- Native- Foreign- % Foreign-

NAICS Workers Born Born 2010 Employed Born Born Born

Source: ACS Public Use Microdata Sample /2007

Massachusetts and New England

Nationally, the number of unemployed persons inLeisure and Hospitality increased from 944,000 personsin March 2008 to 1,484,000 persons in March 2009.This sector has been hard hit by the nation’s recenteconomic downturn.10 In a sobering report, theMassachusetts Department of Workforce Developmentconcludes that “Rising energy and food prices, whichslowed the pace of consumer spending over the year,has led to less recruitment activity in Leisure andHospitality, which includes accommodations and foodservices as well as arts and entertainment…Job postingswere off by 11 percent over the year.”11 Despite eco-nomic gloom, the report adds that at 20 percent(15,050 jobs), the percentage of open-for-hire positionsin this category in 2009 was the same as during the sameperiod the year before.12 That is to say that although“the volume of job postings [was] down from a year agoin most industry sectors,” during the 2nd quarter of2008 the 15,050 job vacancies in Leisure andHospitality represented the second largest number ofjob vacancies in the state behind Education/Health(21,859 job vacancies). This is also well ahead ofProfessional/Scientific/Business and InformationServices (13,277 vacancies); Trade, Transportation andUtilities (12,473 vacancies); Financial Activities (5,084vacancies); Manufacturing (4,649 vacancies); and“Construction/Mining/Agriculture”(1,710 vacancies).13

In spite of the economic downturn, Leisure andHospitality employers continue to be among thebiggest in the state and represent one of the largest sectorsin the Massachusetts economy. According to datareported by Claritas, Inc. and InfoUSA, there were2,333 “Hotels and Other Lodgings” in Massachusettsin 2006 including 606 establishments with 20 or moreemployees retaining 60,585 employees and reporting$2.2 billion in sales. The Massachusetts Budget andPolicy Center reported that, “In the most recent businesscycle, Massachusetts saw job growth in two supersectors–education and health services and leisure and hospitality. These supersectors…showed little sensitivityto the business cycle. Even during the recession of 2001,jobs steadily increased in these two supersectors…Theleisure and hospitality supersector…has seen steadyemployment growth between 2001 and 2007…Thisindustry increased employment by an average of 1.3percent per year or 2,300 jobs since 2001.”14 As notedby the New England Public Policy Center in 2007“Leisure and Hospitality has been one of the leadingindustries in Massachusetts job growth.”15

Table 3 illustrates employment in the MassachusettsLeisure and Hospitality businesses by month from2006 to 2009. Although there may be some fluctuationin monthly employment rates from year to year,employment in Leisure and Hospitality businessesin Massachusetts has consistently been on the risesince 2006.


Table 3:

Employment in Leisure & Hospitality Businesses, Massachusetts 2006 – 2009 (in thousands)

2006 293.6 293.4 293.9 294.8 293.7 295.6 297.5 297.7 298.5 299.0 300.1 301.3

2007 303.0 301.9 302.0 299.4 299.6 303.1 302.3 302.9 303.0 304.5 305.1 303.8

2008 306.7 306.8 306.8 305.7 307.7 306.3 304.9 305.1 304.4 304.1 302.1 299.0

2009 301.6 303.1 296.9

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Source: Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development, Current Employment Statistics (CES-790), Selection Criteria GeographicArea: Massachusetts Industry/Leisure and Hospitality, Seasonally Adjusted Data


Number and Size of Businesses inMassachusetts and New England

Businesses categorized under the NAICS 71 and 72classifications are numerous in the New England states.Based on information reported in InfoUSA (accessedin 2008), there are 58,089 Leisure and Hospitalitybusinesses of varying sizes in New England. Withinthis region Massachusetts is home to approximately42.2 percent of all New England Leisure andHospitality businesses. This is followed by Connecticut(22.7 percent); Maine (11.8 percent); New Hampshire(9.6 percent); Rhode Island (7.4 percent) and Vermont(5.8 percent). Together, Massachusetts and Connecticutaccount for almost two-thirds (64.9 percent) of allLeisure and Hospitality businesses in New England.

The largest businesses in Leisure and Hospitality withsales in the $10 million+ range are primarily located inMassachusetts with 273 businesses and Connecticutwith 120 businesses. New Hampshire is home to 73such large businesses followed by Maine with 66,Rhode Island with 48 and Vermont with 39. As Table4 shows, this group also represents a huge job base in

the region. Some employ as few as one to four workerswhereas others employ more than 100 workers. Asnoted in Table 4, Massachusetts is home to the greatestnumber of Leisure and Hospitality businesses in theregion registering 24,551 businesses. It is also wherethe majority of businesses employing 99 or more workersare based.

Of the 24,551 businesses in Massachusetts, about9,443 retained between 1 and 4 employees in 2008.Another 4,847 businesses retained at least 20 employeesor more. In the middle range, there were 10,251businesses employing between 5 and 19 employees.

There were a total of 6,846 Leisure and Hospitalitybusinesses in Maine in 2008; 2,856 or 42 percent weresmall employing between 1 and 4 persons. Vermonthad 3,398 Leisure and Hospitality businesses with 45percent employing between 1 and 4 employees. NewHampshire had 5,715 Leisure and Hospitality businesseswith 39.6 percent employing between 1 and 4 employees.Rhode Island reported 4,386 Leisure and Hospitalitybusinesses of which 38.1 percent were small. Of thetotal 13,193 Leisure and Hospitality businesses in

Table 4:

Leisure & Hospitality Businesses by Employee Size, Sales Volume and State

Employee Size

UNKNOWN 10 2 1 1 2 3

1 to 4 9443 2856 1534 2267 1673 5532

5 to 19 10251 2774 1323 2281 1813 5448

20 to 99 4297 1123 482 1063 810 2011

99+ 550 91 58 103 88 199

Total 24,551 6,846 3,398 5,715 4,386 13,193

Sales Volume

UNKNOWN 735 203 110 130 124 398

Less Than $500,000 14675 3998 2116 3333 2595 8481

$500,000 to $1M 4065 1131 557 969 715 1905

$1 to $5M 4443 1348 541 1134 839 2139

$2.5 to $5M 998 301 135 259 173 441

$5 to $10M 360 101 35 76 65 150

$10M + 273 66 39 73 48 120

Massachusetts Maine Vermont New Hampshire Rhode Island Connecticut

Source: InfoUSA, accessed November 2008.

M A S S A C H U S E T T S A N D N E W E N G L A N D 1 0

Connecticut, 41.9 percent were small and retainedbetween 1 and 4 employees.

According to a report published by the Rhode IslandDepartment of Labor and Training, Leisure,Hospitality and Tourism in the Ocean State, 55,252individuals were employed in this industrial cluster in2006. While the state’s private sector job growth registered3.1 percent between 2001 and 2006, it registered 6.9percent for Leisure, Hospitality and Tourism workers.16

The Vermont Department of Labor noted that there were33,950 jobs in Leisure and Hospitality businesses inDecember 2008. Within this category, the overwhelmingnumber of jobs was found in Accommodations and FoodServices. This represented approximately 11 percent ofall jobs in the state, which made this sector the fourthlargest in the state slightly behind manufacturing with34,100 jobs.17 The state of Maine reported robustLeisure and Hospitality businesses between 2006 and2009 with wages increasing from $906 million to$947 million.18

IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN LEISURE AND

HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES

Immigrant Entrepreneurs in New England

Immigrant entrepreneurs have a significant presence invarious sectors of Leisure and Hospitality businesses.While the proportion of foreign-born, self-employedworkers (incorporated and unincorporated) varies acrossLeisure and Hospitality sectors, there is a noted presencein some of the subsectors. Immigrant entrepreneurs inTravel and Hotel Accommodations in New Englandtend to operate small enterprises where an employmentbase greater than 10 individuals is not common. Asshown in Chart 1, based on a review of Current

Population Survey data for 2006, approximately 91percent of immigrant entrepreneurs surveyed in the sixNew England states employed less than 10 employeescompared to 75.3 percent for native entrepreneurs.

As is the case nationally, immigrant entrepreneurs inMassachusetts play a significant role in the Leisure andHospitality industries. Their businesses are concentratedin “Traveler Accommodations” and “Restaurants andOther Food Services” in terms of the number ofbusinesses and workers. Although there are more

I M M I G R A N T E N T R E P R E N E U R S I N L E I S U R E A N D H O S P I T A L I T Y B U S I N E S S E S 1 2

Chart 1:

Entrepreneurs in Travel and Hotel Accommodations by Nativity and Foreign-Born

by Number of Employees in New England

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

00%

Under 10 10-24 25-99 100-499 500-999 1000+

Employees Employess

90.9%

75.3%

5.4%

14.0%

0.0%

7.8%

2.1% 2.3% 1.6%0.0% 0.6% or less than 1.0%

I M PA C T O F I M M I G R A N T E N T R E P R E N E U R S A N D W O R K E R S I N L E I S U R E A N D H O S P I T A L I T Y B U S I N E S S E S 1 3

native-born entrepreneurs (due to the overall size of thepool), immigrant entrepreneurs show a higher rate ofself-employment compared to all foreign-born workers(6.4 percent) than native self-employed workerscompared to all native workers (4.7 percent) in theaccommodations and food sectors. Quite simply,immigrants are more likely to be entrepreneurs thanthe native-born.

Chart 2 shows that while foreign-born workers represented26.3 percent of all workers in 2007, foreign-bornentrepreneurs represented a much greater percent (32.2percent or 4,305 out of 13,341 entrepreneurs) of allentrepreneurs in “Traveler Accommodation” and“Restaurant and Other Food Services” industries.

*Self-employed includes incorporated and non-incorporatedSource: ACS Public Use Microdata Sample/2007

Chart 2:

Employment in Leisure & Hospitality Businesses,

Massachusetts 2006 – 2009 (in thousands)

Total Workers Self-Employed*

(entrepreneurs)

Traveler Accommodations 32,658 1,004

Restaurants and Other 224,813 12,337

Food Services

Total Workers 257,471 13,341

Native-Born 189,766 9,036 (4.7%)

Foreign-Born 67,705 (26.3% 4,305 (6.4%

of all workers) of foreign-born

workers and 32.2

percent of all

entrepreneurs)


Valdir immigrated to the U.S. over twelve years ago. Heworked at TGI Fridays for eight years and opened hisBrazilian restaurant last year where the whole family,wife and two daughters, works. He also sells Brazilianproducts in his business. Brazilian Cafe is the onlyBrazilian restaurant in Manchester where other ethnicrestaurants, such as Mexican restaurants, seem to bethriving recently. At TGI Fridays he was in charge ofopening and organizing new restaurants and trainingnew employees, most of whom were recent immigrants.The majority of his clients are Brazilian immigrants.

Most of his suppliers are also immigrants. On the onehand, he found it easy to open the business, but on theother, it has taken a while to gain the trust of Americancustomers. “They would come in and look at themenu, look at the menu and find food that lookedfamiliar but leave.”

Valdir believes that immigrants work very hard becausethey come to the U.S. to work and contribute to enrichthe restaurant industry with their culture. He wants toshow Brazilian culture from the products to the food hesells. In addition, he thinks that immigrant businessesgenerate jobs and pay taxes that strengthen localeconomies as Brazilians did in Framingham, MA. Hefeels that many immigrants hope for a new immigrationlaw that will give the undocumented an opportunity tobecome legal. He supports the legalization of immigrants,especially their work situation, to make them confidentand stable to invest in the economy: “When immigrantsbecome legal, they will start to invest here becausethey’d feel secure. Today, many immigrants feel insecureand do not eat out as often.” Immigration andCustoms Enforcement (ICE) raids in workplaces, ashappened in Somerville in 2008, create insecurity.

Valdir thinks that learning how to speak and readEnglish is the biggest challenge for recent immigrants,who generally have a strong drive to succeed in theirjobs. “Recent immigrants are second to none in theirwork ethic.” He wants to help other immigrants succeedas others helped him in the beginning of his career. “Allimmigrants have to unite because without help, it isvery difficult for immigrants to survive in the U.S.”

Valdir de AlmeidaOwner of Brazilian Cafe in Manchester, New Hampshire


Characteristics

Table 5 shows data based on an average reported by theAmerican Community Survey (ACS) over three years(2005-2007). It shows that of 13,249 entrepreneurs inthe NAICS 72 industry sectors during this period,approximately 3,967 or almost thirty (29.9) percentwere foreign-born. Further, foreign-born males owned34.3 percent of all businesses in this sector while foreign-born women owned 22.2 percent of all businesses inthese sectors.

Table 5:

Massachusetts Leisure & Hospitality Industry - Native & Foreign-Born Owned Businesses

Class of Worker / Self-Employed 13,249 9,282 3,967 29.9

Self-employee not incorporated 5,169 3,416 1,753 n/a

Self-employee incorporated 7,158 5,039 2,119 n/a

Without pay—family 922 827 95 n/a

Traveler Accommodation 1,117 826 291 26

Recreational Vehicle Parks &

Camps, Rooming & Boarding Houses 276 252 24 n/a

Drinking Places, Alcoholic Beverages 562 457 105 19

Restaurants & Other Food Services 11,294 7,747 3,547 31.4

Male 8,402 5,512 2,890 34.3

Female 4,847 3,770 1,077 22.2

Foreign-Born asTotal Native-Born Foreign-Born % of all Businesses

Source: ACS 3 Year Estimates//Public Use Microdata Sample / 2005-2007


Klara found her calling – baking amazing, gourmetcookies deep in the mountainous Berkshires ofMassachusetts. That was not always her dream. Initially,Klara’s goal was to open an Eastern European restaurantin Massachusetts, but once she realized that she wouldneed to work twenty-four hours a day, seven days aweek, she quickly amended her dream! Now she is theowner of an exclusive bakery. Klara’s Gourmet Cookiesare sold at festivals and high-end restaurants throughoutthe Berkshires. Klara and her husband were even able tomove out of their makeshift, at-home bakery and intotheir own space. But this is the most recent news in hervoyage toward her dream. The trip began over a decadeago in Czechoslovakia.

Klara did not immediately dream of moving to theUnited States and creating a business in the Berkshires.She went to school for agriculture in her home country.In addition to agriculture, she was also interested inaccounting. Upon graduating, armed with skills andknowledge in both the agriculture and accountingfields, Klara came to a realization common amongfuture immigrants to the United States -- there were nojobs for young people in her country. “Everything wasstill new and getting started after the revolution. Peopleright out of school didn't have any [hope] for jobs.[There were] high unemployment rates.” Even thoughKlara wanted to go to college, she had to leave school andstart working. It was this experience that started hercareer in the restaurant business at the age of 14. WhenKlara first came to the United States, she worked at acamp during the day and used her experience in therestaurant business to get a job at night.

Klara went to work at Camp Eisner, a Jewish summercamp in Great Barrington in 1999. She applied for theposition of support staff through an agency inCzechoslovakia. The agency does a background checkon all applicants and sends the applications from campto camp all over the United States. The directors of this

particular camp choose from the available applicants,and Klara was lucky enough to be chosen by LouiseFordman at Camp Eisner. Klara initially came for thesummer but was offered a work visa to stay on throughthe full year.

Klara started her business in May 2005 by accident.Klara made traditional Eastern European vanilla walnutcookies for her then fiancé and now husband. She thenwent to work at the restaurant and by the time shecame home, he had eaten the entire box! “He said theywere the best cookies he’d ever had and that I shouldsell them.” This wasn’t too far off from her dream ofowning that Eastern European restaurant. Soon after,they started the new business together. Klara starteddoing research about licensing, food code, packing andeverything else associated with opening a food business.Their first event as a business was to do May Fest, acelebration of foods and beverages with all the proceedsgoing to a non-profit in the Berkshires that supportslow-income family housing and transitioning women.They have done this festival every since, each year withmore success than the previous one.

Klara SotonovaOwner of Klara’s Gourmet Cookies in the Berkshires


This success has been demonstrated through thegrowth in her business. Klara’s Gourmet Cookies startedin a 750 square-foot apartment working out of a homeoven. The startup involved a lot of long days given thatshe could only bake two half-sheet trays at a time in hersmall oven. Finally, the new business owners realizedthat they were at their max and needed to expand. Inearly 2009, Klara and her husband bought an apartmentbuilding in Lee and redid the downstairs as a factorywith the upstairs as their living space. The demand forher cookies has never been higher. Even in the economicdownturn, Klara’s sales are up by 20 percent.

Klara’s path aligns her directly with some of the lesserknown statistics about immigrant workers in theUnited States. As stated in the previous pages, “theentrepreneurship rate for foreign-born workers tendsto be higher than for native workers…the proportion ofimmigrant entrepreneurs among all foreign-born work-ers is higher than the proportion of native entrepreneursamong all native workers in Leisure and Hospitalitybusinesses. Foreign-born entrepreneurs tend to beconcentrated in the … ‘Restaurant and other FoodServices’ sectors.” For Klara, it was never a questionthat she would become an entrepreneur and own herown business in Massachusetts. The only question waswhich business would she create. “I feel like I'veworked hard for so many years, and now it’s really paidoff. I have a successful business that is growing everyyear, and it feels very good when I go out and sell myproduct.” Klara says it best when she states that it is anamazing thing that a young woman can come to theUnited States and achieve such success.


Table 6:

Massachusetts Leisure & Hospitality Industry Native-Born and

Foreign-Born Entrepreneurs by Educational Attainment

Massachusetts Total 13,249 9,282 3,967No schooling completed 97 0 97

12th Grade, no diploma 536 2.52 284

High school graduate 4,358 2,523 1,835

1+ years of college, no degree 2,111 1,774 337

Associate degree 1,888 1,695 193

Bachelor's degree 3,139 2,444 695

Masters degree 926 511 415

Professional degree 76 76 0

Doctorate degree 118 7 111

Total Native-Born Foreign-Born

Source: ACS 3 Year Estimates- Public Use Microdata Sample/2005-2007

Immigrant entrepreneurs in these businesses tend to bemore highly educated than native-born entrepreneurs(Table 6). Almost half or 46.3 percent (1,835 of 3,967persons) of all foreign-born entrepreneurs hold a highschool diploma compared to 27.2 percent (2,523 of9,283) of native-born entrepreneurs. Additionally,while a greater percentage of native-born entrepreneurs(26.2 percent vs. 18 percent) have a bachelor’s degree,foreign-born entrepreneurs significantly outpacenative-born entrepreneurs in holding a masters’,professional or doctorate degrees. Approximately sixpercent of native-born entrepreneurs are in this categorycompared to 13.3 percent of foreign-born entrepreneurs.

Challenges

Immigrant entrepreneurs are making an enormousimpact on local economies in Massachusetts and otherstates in New England. They bring certain economicresources that help to revitalize these places. Immigrantbusinesses, which bring new cultural tastes or productsto U.S. society, can also be a resource in the food andrestaurant sector. In spite of the important contributionson the part of immigrant entrepreneurs, they continueto face “daunting” challenges.19 This is also the case inMassachusetts and the New England region.

There are several challenges facing immigrant entrepreneurs. Many immigrant business owners inthe restaurant and food sectors rely on family members as

a labor resource. This is positive, but it can also be alimitation when households undergo changes thatmight limit the availability of family members aspotential workers. Other ‘built-in’ resources enjoyed byimmigrants in the Leisure and Hospitality industries,especially the smaller businesses in foods and restaurants,is that they have a special customer base interested intheir ethnic offerings. Some immigrant businesses havea captured market of fellow immigrants seeking thecomfort and familiarity of food, language and culturefrom their native lands. So when a Nigerian, Brazilianor Cambodian arrives in the United States, it is quitenatural to seek businesses with which they can resonateculturally and where language is not an obstacle. But thiscan be a limitation if businesses seek to grow and expandinto broader markets.

Immigrant entrepreneurs may not be familiar withgovernment resources that can help their businesses.One Cambodian restaurant owner exclaimed, “A lot ofbusinesses at my level have to do a lot of learning aboutthis culture” and, he added, about a range of seeminglycomplex city regulations regarding businesses.Unfortunately, sometimes local business regulationsand expectations have to be learned through costly trialand error due to the lack of information or networksbetween immigrant entrepreneurs and contacts in localgovernment. This obstacle confirms the findings of arecent study of immigrant entrepreneurs in Lowell,Massachusetts.20 It is also confirmed by another studysponsored by The Immigrant Learning Center focusingon immigrant entrepreneurs in Boston, Massachusetts.21

A related challenge to immigrant entrepreneurs is a lackof extensive business networks. Since immigrantentrepreneurs tend to be new in starting businesses,they may not have the relationships with vendors andother business people who can impact their ownbusinesses. Even little things that can improve businessopportunities may not be available to immigrantentrepreneurs as suggested by one interviewee:“They…can’t get in the door. This is because they can’talways offer the perks, such as super-bowl tickets, sothey are not always able to compete.”


Ashish Sangani moved to the United States in 1998 tolive with his aunt and uncle in New England. As astudent in India, Ashish studied business and commercewith the dream of one day owning his own company. Asthe realization hit that his financial situation was notideal for going back to school for another degree,Ashish decided he needed to get a job. His uncle helpedhim get his first position at the front desk of a smallhotel owned by an acquaintance.

Mr. Sangani notes Indian workers are an increasingpresence in the hospitality industry of New England.He further notes that they do a great job. This is acharacteristic that Mr. Sangani attributes to the factthat many Indian hotel workers hold the same dreamthat he did – to own their own hotel.

Indeed, this was his dream. As he began his career inthe hospitality industry, Mr. Sangani began to realizethat he was great at this job. His strong analytical skillscoupled with his natural ability to work with peoplematched well with both his personality and the hospitalityindustry. With that realization in hand, Mr. Sanganidecided to try his hand at hotel ownership. The processto ownership was very lengthy and frustrating. Finally,he got an opportunity to buy a property owned byEastern Nazarene College and became the owner of alocally-owned and operated, 37-room hotel called ThePresident’s City Inn.

Mr. Sangani deeply appreciates the opportunities thatbeing in the great land of the United States has givenhim. He believes that these opportunities are availableto everyone across the country. He also believes thathaving a stable family life provides a strong foundationto achieve one’s dreams. These dreams are certainlybeing realized for him. The Sangani family now ownssix hotels and manages five of them from Quincy,Massachusetts to Augusta, Maine through a family andfriend owned company (GIRI).

Mr. Sangani is proud of the work that he has done herein this country. He deeply appreciates the support thestaff has given him. “We are like a family. We are alldifferent races and nationalities but support, appreciateand respect each other.”

He believes that immigrants are providing a greatworkforce to this country. They come with dreams thatlead them to put their whole selves into their work. Itis this strong desire and commitment that has enabledmany immigrants to achieve their dreams. When askedwhat is next for him, Mr. Sangani states that he has notachieved all that he can. Work is in progress and thebest is yet to come.

Ashish SanganiOwner of GIRI Hotels in Quincy, MA and Freeport and Augusta, Maine


Discrimination against immigrant entrepreneurs,especially in the Post-9/11 era, can be a problemaccording to one interviewee: “…they fear being targets of …anti-immigration” sentiment.

This raises the level of insecurity of the workforce interms of short- and long-range availability. The laborforce is an insecure one because it is affected directly byeconomic conditions both locally and in their homelandsas well as by immigration policies at the national andstate levels. As pointed out by a Brazilian immigrantowner of a restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire,even public debates about immigration generateslabor instability:

Everyday an immigrant gets into my business, picks up alittle newspaper and reads about immigration, immigration,immigration. He ends up feeling uncertain, insecure. Itaffects my business in particular because it generatesinstability. He stays insecure. He waits. ..he ends up keepinghis money longer because he does not know what is goingto happen the next day…because if something happens,you leave. The newspapers report on ICE raids,…raids incompanies, which create a climate of persecution againstimmigrants. All that creates insecurity for immigrants.

Another challenge centers on the issue of gaining trustof potential customers. In restaurant businesses this isparticularly important because some immigrant groups“do not eat out often.” This might reflect cultural valuesbut also the insecurity, which pervades some immigrantcommunities in various places.

Nevertheless, Leisure and Hospitality businesses arehaving a profound impact on cities, towns and states.They not only provide needed goods and services forincreasing numbers of immigrants but also attract newcustomers with the diversity of their products. They oftenhelp to revive business and commerce in economicallydepressed areas. They provide some employmentopportunities and increase business for their suppliers.And many of these entrepreneurs do not sit still. Theylook to expand, branch-out and diversify. In the end,there is a special determination and fortitude. One isleft with wonder and appreciation for what theyachieved for themselves and for their communities.


Gosia Nowaczyk was born in Poland in the 1950’sduring the communist regime. After finishing schoolfor hotel management, she left Poland to move toWest Berlin in 1980. She felt that in order to live up toher dreams, a move was in order. In Germany sheworked long hours cleaning offices and stores in orderto save up enough money to pay for an education in aprivate school for hotel management in Switzerland.Even though she already had her degree in hotelmanagement, Ms. Nowaczyk realized that she wouldneed to go back to school because no one would accepther Polish degree.

After finishing school in Chur, Switzerland, Gosiaworked for a couple of years in Hotel Scheuble inZurich as a Front Desk Attendant. Before long, shegot an opportunity to move to Lausanne to pursue herdream and attend the University of Lausanne to studyFrench. She continued to work in the hospitalityindustry and worked as an assistant manager at theHotel des Voyageurs in Lausanne. Once she graduatedfrom the University she elected to move to Canada givenher fluency in French. Gosia learned quickly thatFrench is spoken very differently in Canada than it is inSwitzerland after she was fired from her first job for “poorknowledge” of French.

This is when Gosia decided to try to improve herEnglish and moved to the Canadian Rockies where shecontinued working in the hospitality industry. In 1994she was promoted to the position of manager of the

Housekeeping Department at the Banff Centre forContinuing Education in the Canadian Rockies. Afterliving for 13 years in Canada, she traveled to Boston tovisit her cousin, a trip that would change her course. Itwas 2000 and Gosia met a headhunter who broughther to the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts,where she has worked since. It has been over 20 yearssince she studied hotel management in Poland, andGosia feels that she has made a good life for herself herein Massachusetts.

Not only is she the Manager of the HousekeepingDivision at the Red Lion Inn, but she has won grantsto start an English as a Second Language (ESL) programfor the immigrant workers at this establishment. Gosiafeels strongly that many immigrants will thrive if theycan just learn basic English skills. When asked aboutimmigrant worker retention, Gosia explains that thekey to keeping her workforce happy is to simply listento them and make sure that their needs are met byengaging them in conversation. She is very proud ofher employees’ progress in English; she believes it opensmany doors leading to their dreams.

Gosia NowaczykManager, Housekeeping Division for Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Mr. Gerry Fernandez sees great potential for ethnicentrepreneurs in the growing market for multiculturalfood. As President of the Multicultural Food Service &Hospitality Alliance in Rhode Island, he is dedicated tohelping small ethnic businesses develop their capacityand skills to thrive in the increasingly diverse food andservice industry. Gerry’s own journey to his currentposition has provided rich and robust experiences tosupport these budding entrepreneurs. As one of sixchildren in a Cape Verdean family on the South Shore, heworked his way from a work-study job as a dishwasher atthe culinary college, Johnston and Wales, to summer jobsin the Cape Cod area. On the island of Nantucket, hehad his first real cooking job at the tender age of 19.

After finishing school, he did further training at suchplaces as the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.However, his meeting the Director of the NationalRestaurant Association altered his course. From him helearned restaurant management and returned toProvidence to open two restaurants including a“Capital Grille.” In 1992, his career took another turnwhen he went to work for General Mills in Minneapolisin research and development. After moving into sales atGeneral Mills, he got the idea for his current organization,which General Mills helped launch in 1996.

Mr. Fernandez tells the story of his early love affair withfood and later the food service industry. According tohim, "After all this change I am still in love with food.More importantly, I still love the service side of thehospitality business. Making someone feel as thoughthey are the most important person in the world is reallysatisfying to me, and my industry experience has reallyhelped me to grow the organization."

During the last four years, the Multicultural FoodService & Hospitality Alliance (MFHA) has served asthe voice for diversity and multicultural issues in thehospitality industry. The organization promotes theeconomic benefits of a diverse workforce and consumerbase to all segments of foodservice and lodging andworks to build the capacity and skills of ethnic businesses.In addition, the Alliance looks for ways to help improvethe industry's image while educating the industry onthe value of ethnic consumer marketing. Currently, theorganization serves over 800 members and partnerswith 70 corporate entities. Mr. Fernandez says, "It's ourjob to find solutions and assist our members withsecuring information that will help grow their business."

Gerry FernandezPresident, Multicultural Food Service & Hospitality Alliance in Rhode Island


IMMIGRANT WORKERS IN LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES

New England

The concentration of foreign-born workers in Leisureand Hospitality businesses throughout New England isfound in Traveler Accommodations and Restaurantsand Other Food Services industry sub-sectors. Thehigher proportion of foreign-born workers (Tables 7and 8) within the overall Leisure and Hospitality sectorpoints to the potential of a higher number of immigrantentrepreneurs also. Table 7 shows the proportion of allnative-and-foreign-born workers in Leisure andHospitality businesses. Over a three-year average(2005-2007), 11.7 percent of all foreign-born workersare found in Leisure and Hospitality businesses comparedto 7.2 percent of all native-born workers inMassachusetts.22 Rhode Island actually reported thehighest proportion of foreign-born workers in Leisureand Hospitality businesses at 12.0 percent. Except forthe state of Vermont, the overall proportion of theforeign-born workforce in these businesses is higherthan the proportion of native-born workers.

The Current Population Survey for March 2009 (Table8) indicates even higher proportions of foreign-bornworkers in these industries. The survey found thatmore than one-quarter (25.5 percent) of all workers inLeisure and Hospitality in Massachusetts and morethan one-fifth (21.2 percent) of all workers in Leisureand Hospitality in Connecticut were reported asforeign-born in 2009.

The particular state distribution is reflective of theactual size of the foreign-born population in thesestates. The 2007 American Community Survey reportedthat 14.2 percent of the Massachusetts total populationwas foreign-born. The next two New England stateswith the highest proportions for the same year wereConnecticut (12.8 percent) and Rhode Island (12.7percent). The remaining states had relatively smallforeign-born populations compared to the overallpopulation; New Hampshire, 5.1 percent; Maine, 3.4percent and Vermont, 3.4 percent. Nevertheless, and inspite of the smaller size of the foreign-born population,foreign-born workers comprise a significant componentof the workforce in all of these states.

I M M I G R A N T W O R K E R S I N L E I S U R E A N D H O S P I T A L I T Y B U S I N E S S E S 2 4

Table 7:

Leisure & Hospitality – New England Workforce – Percent

Native-Born v. Percent Foreign-Born – Three-Year Averages

2005-2007

Massachusetts 256,874 7.2 * 11.7 *

Connecticut 132,554 7.6 11.1

New Hampshire 53,508 7.7 10.2

Rhode Island 52,544 10.0 12.0

Maine 52,663 8.0 11.6

Vermont 30,055 9.1 8.2

State Total Workers % Native-Born % Foreign-Born

Source: Selected Population Profile in the United States; 2005-2007American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates, Massachusetts;Connecticut; New Hampshire; Rhode Island; Maine and Vermont; and,Selected Economic Characteristics in the United States; 2005-2007American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates, Massachusetts;Connecticut; New Hampshire; Rhode Island; Maine and Vermont * 7.2%of all native workers, and 11.7% of all foreign-born workers inMassachusetts work in Leisure and Hospitality.

Table 8:

Leisure & Hospitality – New England Workforce –

Percent Foreign-Born and Total Workforce – March 2009

Population Survey

Massachusetts 25.5 273,931

Connecticut 21.2 156,519

New Hampshire 4.9 56,690

Rhode Island 10.8 59,356

Maine 5.3 60,890

Vermont 7.8 29,338

Source: Current Population Survey Basic/March 2009

State % Foreign-Born Total


Figure I: Massachusetts Leisure & Hospitality Business Concentration by Zip Code

Massachusetts

Concentrations in Leisure and Hospitality businesses are found in various parts of the state as indicated inthe following map.

As shown in Figure 1, there are significant concentrations of Leisure and Hospitality businesses in the northeastand southeast and some presence in the western portions of Massachusetts.

In 2006, Massachusetts reported that 302,547 or 9.3percent of all jobs in Massachusetts were in Leisure andHospitality businesses. According to the AmericanCommunity Survey Public Use Microdata Sample for2007, foreign-born persons held approximately one-quarter of these jobs. Most jobs were inAccommodation and Food Services (249,826 jobs);Hotels and Motels (33,338 jobs) and Eating andDrinking Places (216,489 jobs). In this same year,Leisure and Hospitality generated a gross payroll of $6billion (3.6 percent of total gross payroll for the state)but recorded a significantly lower annual wage of $20,185when compared to the state average of $52,435.23

In Labor Market Profile: Annual Profile forMassachusetts (May 2009), the MassachusettsDepartment of Labor and Workforce Developmentreports that “Accommodation and Food Services” isamong the five largest industry sectors in terms ofemployment and wage trends.

Health Care and Social Assistance 14.5%

Retail Trade 10.8%

Manufacturing 9.1%

Accommodation and Food Services 7.9%

Professional, Scientific, 7.7%and Technical Services

Further, behind Professional, Scientific and TechnicalServices and Health and Educational Services, the“third fastest growth is expected in Leisure andHospitality (+9.2 percent), projected to add 27,160jobs” over the next several years.24 Massachusettsexperienced an increase in the number of jobs underLeisure and Hospitality between 2004-2008.

As Table 9 shows, the Massachusetts Department ofLabor and Workforce Department reported a total poolof 302,600 employees in Leisure and Hospitalitybusinesses in September 2009. This included 255,100employees in Accommodations and Food Services and47,500 in Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation. Thetotal workforce in Leisure and Hospitality remainedrelatively stable between September 2007 (303,000employees) and September 2009 (302,600 employees).In 2004, the Leisure and Hospitality workforce wascounted at 291,900 workers in Massachusetts.25



Table 9:

Massachusetts Leisure and Hospitality Businesses Employment, 2007 – 2009 (thousands)

2009 70-000000 Leisure and Hospitality 301.6 303.1 297.4 296.8 300.9 303.7 308.2 308.4 302.6

2009 70-710000 Arts, Entertainment, 49.7 49.7 47.9 47.3 48.4 47.7 48.5 48.6 47.5

and Recreation

2009 70-720000 Accommodation and 251.9 253.4 249.5 249.5 252.5 256 259.7 259.8 255.1

Food Services

2008 70-000000 Leisure and Hospitality 306.7 306.8 306.8 305.7 307.7 306.3 304.9 305.1 304.4 304.1 302.1 299

2008 70-710000 Arts, Entertainment, 50.5 49.3 49.2 48.5 49.2 49.7 48.8 49.1 48.6 49.2 48.3 47.8

and Recreation

2008 70-720000 Accommodation and 256.2 257.5 257.6 257.2 258.5 256.6 256.1 256 255.8 254.9 253.8 251.2

Food Services

2007 70-000000 Leisure and Hospitality 303 301.9 302 299.4 299.6 303.1 302.3 302.9 303 304.5 305.1 303.8

2007 70-710000 Arts, Entertainment, 47.8 48.1 48.1 46.3 46.7 48.7 48.3 48.5 48.3 48.5 48.5 48.6

and Recreation

2007 70-720000 Accommodation and 255.2 253.8 253.9 253.1 252.9 254.4 254 254.4 254.7 256 256.6 255.2

Food Services

Year CES Series Description Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Code

Source: Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development, Current Employment Statistics (CES-790), Selection Criteria GeographicArea: Massachusetts Industry/Leisure and Hospitality, Seasonally Adjusted Data

Table 10 illustrates the proportion of foreign-bornworkers in specific Leisure and Hospitality businessesin Massachusetts. As stated earlier, foreign-born workersare primarily concentrated in “TravelerAccommodations,” and “Restaurants and FoodServices.” More than one-third (35.9 percent) of allworkers in “Traveler Accommodations” were foreign-born in 2007; almost one-quarter (24.9 percent) of allworkers in “Restaurants and Other Food Services” wereforeign-born.

Table 11 indicates that foreign-born workers in thesetwo business sub-sectors reflect a wide range of ancestryand ethnic backgrounds. In 2007, Brazilians were thelargest number of foreign-born workers in MassachusettsLeisure and Hospitality businesses especially TravelerAccommodations, Drinking Places, and Restaurantsand Other Food Services. However, within thesebusinesses they were overwhelmingly found inRestaurants and Other Food Services. Dominicans, thesecond largest group of foreign-born workers, weremore evenly distributed between Restaurants andOther Food Services and Traveler Accommodations.

Table 12 shows the same information by percentagedistribution of immigrant workers according to ancestrybetween 2005 and 2007. Foreign-born workers fromCentral America were concentrated in TravelerAccommodation businesses. This was followed by athird or more of all foreign-born workers from theDominican Republic (34.8 percent); Haiti (36.3 percent);Africa (36.4 percent); West Indies (31.4 percent) andAsian nations (31.2 percent).


Table 10:

Massachusetts Leisure & Hospitality Businesses –

Percent Foreign-Born by Job Category

Bowling Centers Less than 1.0%

Other Amusement, Gambling, 7.6%

and Recreation Industries

Traveler Accommodations 35.9%

Recreation Vehicle Parks, Camps, 1.8%

Rooming & Boarding Houses

Drinking Places, Alcoholic Beverages 17.7%

Restaurants and Other Food Services 24.9%

Source: ACS Public Use Microdata Sample/2007


Table 11:

Foreign-Born Workforce Distribution in Massachusetts by Ethnicity/Country of Origin

Foreign-Born Workers 23,112 2,967 89 20,056Irish 606 27 28 551

Mexican 1,612 63 0 1,549

Central American 136 104 0 32

Dominican 2,960 1,031 26 1,903

West Indian 185 58 0 127

Haitian 1,511 549 0 962

Brazilian 13,262 608 0 12,654

Cape Verdean 1,725 137 0 1,588

African 807 294 35 478

Asian 308 96 0 212

Eat-Drinking Restaurants and Total Traveler Places, Alcoholic Other Food

NAICS Accommodations Beverages Services

Source: ACS Public Use Microdata Sample/2005-2007

Table 12:

Percentage Distribution of Foreign-Born Workforce in Massachusetts by Ethnicity/Country of Origin

Foreign-Born Workers 12.8 0.4 86.8Irish 4.5 4.6 90.9

Mexican 3.9 0 96.1

Central American 76.5 0 23.5

Dominican 34.8 0.9 64.3

West Indian 31.4 0 68.6

Haitian 36.3 0 63.7

Brazilian 4.6 0 95.4

Cape Verdean 7.9 0 92.1

African 36.4 4.3 59.2

Asian 31.2 0 68.8

Drinking Restaurants and Traveler Places, Alcoholic Other Food

Accommodations Beverages Services

Source: ACS Public Use Microdata Sample/2005-2007


Table 13:

Foreign-Born Workforce Percent Distribution in Massachusetts by Gender

Male 60.7 52.5 55.2 62.5 62.5

Female 39.3 47.5 44.8 37.5 37.5

Recreational VehicleTotal Traveler Parks and Camps, Drinking Places, Restaurants and

NAICS Accommodations and Rooming and Alcoholic Other Food(%) (%) Boarding Houses Beverages Services


Table 14:

Native-Born Workforce Percent Distribution in Massachusetts by Gender

Male 42.6 40.3 50.8 54.9 42.0

Female 57.4 59.7 49.2 45.1 58.0

Recreational VehicleTotal Traveler Parks and Camps, Drinking Places, Restaurants and

NAICS Accommodations and Rooming and Alcoholic Other Food(%) (%) Boarding Houses Beverages Services


Gender and schooling characteristics of foreign-bornworkers compared to native workers in Leisure andHospitality businesses are presented in Tables 13, 14, 15and 16. In 2007, approximately 61 percent of theforeign-born workforce in NAICS category 72 wasmale and 39 percent women. This contrasts sharplywith native-born workers where women representedapproximately 57.4 percent of the total workforce inthese industries. Foreign-born women workers accountedfor nearly 48 percent of the workforce in TravelerAccommodation businesses.

Table 15 shows foreign-born workers in theMassachusetts Leisure and Hospitality businesses haveslightly higher educational levels than native-born work-ers. Almost one-quarter (23.8%) of native-born workers

have no high school diplomas compared to 22.1 percentof foreign-born workers. Both groups are generally com-parable in terms of the proportion who graduated fromhigh school (33 percent for native-born workers and32.6 percent for foreign-born workers). The percentageof foreign-born workers in these businesses with somecollege and higher is 44.7 percent, only a bit higher thanthe 42.3 percent for native-born workers.

Table 16 shows the distribution of educationalattainment for native-born and foreign-born workersin the two Leisure and Hospitality subsectors wherethey have the largest numbers (Traveler Accommodationsand Restaurants and Other Food Services). In TravelerAccommodation businesses, 29 percent of all foreign-born workers have less than 12 years of schooling and


no diploma compared to 17.1 percent of native-bornworkers. Native-born workers also have a higherproportion of workers with some college and higher(50.5 percent) compared to foreign-born workers(36.2 percent). However, this gap is smaller in the areaof Restaurants and Other Food Services where 42.1 per-cent of native-born workers have some college schoolingcompared to 30.2 percent of all foreign-born workers.

Table 15:

Massachusetts Total NAICS Native-and Foreign-Born

Workforce by Schooling Level

in Leisure and Hospitality Businesses

No schooling completed 1.1% 0.4%

12th Grade or less, no diploma 23.8 22.1

High school graduate 33.0 32.6

Some college, but less than 1 year 5.9 6.7

1+ years of college, no degree 16.1 17.5

Associate degree 4.9 5.4

Bachelor's degree 12.9 13.0

Master's degree 2.3 2.0

Professional degree 0.2 0.1

Doctorate degree 0 0

Source: ACS Public Use Microdata Sample/2007Columns do not add to 100 because of rounding.

Native (%) Foreign-Born (%)

Table 16:

Native-Born and Foreign-Born Workforce in Traveler

Accommodations and Restaurants and Food Services by

Educational Attainment

Native Workers

No schooling completed 0.0 % 0.4 %









Doctorate degree 0.0 0.0

Foreign-Born Workers

No schooling completed 3.0 4.1









Doctorate degree 0.0 0.0

Source: ACS Public Use Microdata Sample/2007Columns do not add to 100 because of rounding.

Restaurants andTraveler Other Food

Accommodations Services (%)

Foreign-born workers are likely to be found in occupa-tions that pay lower wages and require less training suchas Laundry and Dry Cleaning, Correspondence Clerksand Order Clerks, Dishwashers, Janitors and BuildingCleaners and Maids/Housekeeping.

IMPACT OF IMMIGRANT WORKERS AND ENTREPRENEURS IN LEISURE AND

HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES: VOICES FROM THE FIELD

Interview and Survey Results

In order to understand the role and contributions ofimmigrant entrepreneurs and workers in the Leisureand Hospitality businesses, the team conducted a shortsurvey and interviews with 32 representatives of theindustry, professional associations, workers and immi-grant entrepreneurs between April 2009 and August2009. A number of key themes about the experiencesof immigrant workers and entrepreneurs emerged fromthis part of the study that are discussed below.

Representatives of Leisure and Hospitality businessesexpressed major concerns about worker shortages andhow the presence or lack of foreign-born workersimpacts this issue. This worry existed prior to the currenteconomic challenges and continues to be of concern onthe part of industry representatives. The data describingindustry trends and characteristics support this continuing concern. Interviewees emphasized thatthe foreign-born population is a critical part of theworkforce in this industry. This was best observedsuccinctly by one interviewee: “Without immigrants,our industry, in some instances, would shut down.”

Another interviewee was stark in the policy levelimplications of not resolving the issue of immigrants andworker shortages in Leisure and Hospitality businesses:

Fewer employees mean fewer groups can be served. Just oneless wedding has a trickle down effect to the hairdresser, thewedding cake baker, the photographer, the tuxedo shop, thedressmaker and tailor, the florist, the limo company, theprinter, the musicians, even the newsstand selling guestpapers. Just one less wedding means a decline in the numberof charitable events we host at heavily discounted rates forcharities…Just one less wedding reduces the amount ofcash donations. A labor shortage doesn’t affect only mybusiness; it has a domino effect on the local economy andAmerican jobs.

These fears have been voiced by others. TheBrattleboro Reformer reported in 2008 that businessesin Rhode Island might have to cut back operations,which would mean “longer lines at restaurants, longer

waits for hotel rooms and rooms being closed at certainestablishments.”

It was pointed out that Newport County needs to fillapproximately 500 vacancies; between 5,000 and7,000 vacancies have been reported for Cape Codand the Islands.26

Interviewees indicated that this industry is verydependent on immigrants rather than native-bornworkers. Several reasons were offered to explain thissituation. One is that the nature of the work is seasonaland thus only attractive to youth or temporary workers.Youth may see the jobs in this sector “as low status andonly for a quick dollar.” Many immigrant entrepreneursand workers, on the other hand, come from countrieswhere serving is considered a profession. As noted by oneimmigrant entrepreneur, “In my country it is a profession;you go to school to be a server.” Thus, a fundamentaldifference in how the status of jobs in Leisure andHospitality is perceived might explain some differencesin the level of presence of native-born and youth workerscompared to immigrant workers.

In addition, the actual supply of youth is a problem. Asnoted by one interviewee: “…resort areas…in the pastused college students, but those are not available anylonger because they go back to school early. We needto supplement workers for these kinds of jobs in someway.” Another interviewee reminds us that when some“people think of seasonal workers, they think of kids onvacation. However, the season can be from April toOctober. Most kids are still in school. This is why thereis a reliance on these non-U.S. seasonal workers.”

When respondents were asked why there is a greaterpresence of foreign-born workers in some industries,most respondents focused more on broader immigrationpolicies and worker needs. One person suggested thatimmigrant workers tend to be very loyal and committedto a job. In addition, respondents talked about aninformal network utilized for recruiting new workers.If new workers are needed by a hotel, for example, current

V O I C E S F R O M T H E F I E L D 3 4


immigrant workers would help fill the void with familymembers or friends privy to the information aboutopenings. This ‘cluster’ effect represents a recruitmentresource and also a support network for new workers.27

A question raised in some public debates aboutimmigration, not necessarily confined to Leisure andHospitality, is whether or not foreign-born workers aredisplacing native-born workers. Every intervieweechallenged this notion on the basis of actual experiences.As noted by one representative of several Leisure andHospitality associations: “We do not have the workerswilling to do the job that we need. Particularly, thefederal labor laws will not allow kids to do certainkinds of work. So, we can’t use that workforce. Weconstantly advertise, go to job fairs all over the stateand are not getting U.S.-born workers. College kidsget financial aid and so that workforce is not availableany longer…If folks are receiving unemploymentinsurance nowadays, they are not looking for this kind ofwork.” He concludes: “Immigrants are not takingAmerican jobs, replacing American workers.”

Another reason that might explain a higher occupationalpenetration of foreign-born workers in some Leisure andHospitality businesses is that the jobs can be part-timeand seasonal. It is more difficult to hire native workersinto these kinds of jobs since they may be seekingfull-time, full-year employment to a greater extentthan foreign-born workers. The Executive Director ofthe Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce “estimated thatNewport gets 3.5 million visitors each year,” a marketthat could not possibly be served with a declining native-born workforce.28 The suggestion here is that there arenot enough willing native workers to meet the labordemands of healthy Leisure and Hospitality businesses.This claim is partially supported by noting that there is arelatively low level of penetration by foreign-born workersinto occupations that are higher in status or which requirevocational training and licensing. The proportion offoreign-born workers in the following occupationswithin Leisure and Hospitality businesses inMassachusetts is much lower than the overall ratio of

foreign-born workers: marketing and sales managers;human resources personnel; engineering managers;planners; fire fighters and managers; licensed equipmentoperators; occupations requiring vocational training andlicenses such as pipefitters, plumbers, carpenters,electricians, maintenance and repair workers as wellas other occupations.29 Native-born workers aremuch more present in these kinds of occupations andless so in those which pay less or enjoy lower status.

The issue of worker conditions was raised by someinterviewees. One interviewee commented that “Wecannot overlook the concerns of our workers. Some ofour hardest workers, who might be the quietest, caneasily be forgotten. Employers need to be aware andkeep this in back of their minds…We look at wagestructure, benefits –they have to fit needs of employees.”This is a challenge in some businesses that rely onpart-time, seasonal or temporary workers. In otherbusinesses there are attempts for workers andmanagement to collaborate regarding working conditionsand productivity.

Public policy was raised as often lacking coherency orrelevancy to local economic needs. The interviewsserved to highlight the balancing act of recruitingworkers in a context of shifting immigration policies.It was also pointed out by one interviewee that currentimmigration policies and regulations discourage thebuilding of skills or work longevity in these sectors: “Bythe time I get them used to what they are doing, theyleave…We cannot even get the same employees whohave been here for years, obeying the rules, and we havebeen obeying the rules.”

The H-2B Visa program was criticized as inadequateand limiting regarding the need for workers in NewEngland’s Leisure and Hospitality businesses.Immigration policies seem out of sync with the shiftingdemands of these businesses in New England. A reviewof applications processed and workers requestedthrough the U.S. Department of Labor supports thisconcern. Table 17 shows that a significant gap exists

between the need for workers in New England and thenumber of H-2B applicants actually granted visas.

Some business representatives claimed that they havebeen straight-jacketed with restrictive policies thatmean they cannot hire the ‘best workers.’ A company isfaced with a critical shortage of workers and may nothave the opportunity to look for a workforce thatmight be most productive. Some businesses invest inthis workforce through housing and transportation costs.One respondent explained, “Many small employers…have provided safe, decent housing with costs typicallysubsidized. Some offer daily transportation to workfrom urban centers.” He adds: “…along with CapeCod Healthcare,…the Chamber has researched andpromoted health insurance products for temporary seasonal workers…” According to some of the intervie-wees, appreciation for what it means for businesses totake on these kinds of costs to local economies directlyand indirectly is not reflected in immigration policies.

Interviewees were critical of the general public’s perceptionof immigration and attributed it to current immigrationpolicies and practices. Frustration was evident in manyof the interviews regarding the general public’s lack ofunderstanding of how immigration impacts not onlythe health of Leisure and Hospitality businesses but theoverall economy as well. One Cambodian entrepreneurpointed out that even illegal immigration represents afundamental economic resource for the entire nation:

…America became a rich country because of slavery; backin the 19th Century you had slaves…We do not haveslaves today, but we have illegal immigrants…If we didnot have illegal immigrants in…the U.S…how muchwould the cost of vegetables be? They would skyrocket,right? Everything would skyrocket.

It is difficult for some businesses to operate effectivelywhen their workers could be perceived as potentialcriminals, terrorists or parasites seeking only to exploitU.S. society. As observed by one worker, “Sometimesthey don’t like when we speak our language. We areconfronted by people with negative perceptions aboutwho we are. They want to treat us as though we areignorant and illegal. This is the result of how we talkabout immigration and immigrants.” Immigration policyshould be reformed to help citizens understand thatimmigration is a major economic resource for the nation.

Concern was expressed about the relative absence oftraining programs and career building opportunities.Part of the issue here has to do with the size of smallbusinesses. While small businesses are prominent inLeisure and Hospitality and employ relatively largenumbers of workers in the aggregate, it might be difficultto design career ladders for smaller establishments.Aside from this consideration, however, some intervieweesexpressed frustration about the lack of trainingopportunities. Immigrant workers were not singledout as requiring different types of training other thanensuring that language barriers could be overcome. Yet,it was generally believed that training is an importantcomponent for keeping Leisure and Hospitalitybusinesses vibrant and competitive: “We need toembrace that we are an industry of education. We hiremore high school graduates than any other industry,”according to one key informant.

Related to this matter is the issue of higher educationin working with Leisure and Hospitality businesses inproviding training opportunities for careers. There is aperception that higher education is lacking in this area.One interviewee noted: “We have to sell the hospitalityindustry to parents and educators. Because of stereotypes,

Table 17:

H-2B VISA Application Program – Labor Needs

v. Workers Certified (2007)

Massachusetts 734 570 7,458

New Hampshire 124 103 1,950

Rhode Island 79 64 909

Vermont 127 112 1,913

Applications Applications WorkersProcessed Certified Requested


Source: U.S. Department of Labor. H-2B Summary.http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/h-2b_atlanta2007.cfm; U.S. Statesand Territories, Atlanta National Processing Center Jurisdiction


most educational institutions do not push studentstowards the hospitality industry. They don’t see thepipeline and road for advancement. They don’t seeownership and earning potential.” In fact, there arerelatively few hospitality programs in institutions ofhigher education in the New England region and evenfewer that are accredited specifically for hospitalityprograms. The next chart shows the leisure and hospitality programs established in New England andthe kinds of degrees offered in areas of study. Only afew programs actually have been accredited by theAccreditation Commission for Programs inHospitality Administration (ACPHA).


Chart 3:

Hospitality Programs in Higher Education, New England

School By State Degree Area of Study

ConnecticutUniversity of New Haven BS Hotel and Restaurant Management

MassachusettsBay State College AA, BA Hospitality Management

Bunker Hill Community College Certificate, AA Hotel/Restaurant, Travel

Boston University BA Hospitality Administration

Endicott College Hospitality Management

Fisher College AA, BA Hospitality & Tourism

Mass Bay Community College AA, Certificate

Newbury College

University of Massachusetts Amherst* BA, MS Casino, Food & Beverage, Lodging

New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire* BA

Southern New Hampshire University* BA Hotel & Convention Management

MaineHusson College AA

Southern Maine Community College AA Lodging and Restaurant Management

Rhode IslandCommunity College of Rhode Island Certificate Travel, Tourism and Hospitality

Johnson and Wales BA, MBA, Certificate

VermontChamplain College BA Hotel, Restaurant Management

Johnson State College BA Food Service, Hotel & Lodging

New England Culinary Institute BA, AA Hospitality & Restaurant Management

Green Mountain College BA Resort & Hospitality Management

*Accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration (ACPHA)


Conclusions

This study shows how important immigrant entrepreneurs and the immigrant workforce are toLeisure and Hospitality businesses in Massachusettsand in other New England states. The findings reportedin this study, as well as the personal stories, point to anumber of general recommendations. It would be idealfor these recommendations to take place within anational context of immigration reform. But aside fromhow this national issue evolves, at least five policy goalsshould be considered by Massachusetts and other NewEngland state governments as well as representatives ofLeisure and Hospitality businesses.

1. Expand the availability of training opportunitiesrelated to leisure and hospitality occupations at thehigh school and community college levels. Thesesectors are probably best equipped to change the neg-ative perceptions that some in the general public haveabout work in Leisure and Hospitality businesses.

2. Expand ESOL (English for Speakers of OtherLanguages) services in immigrant communities.

3. Build and sustain career ladders for workers throughcollaborations between industry representatives andhigher education. This might help retain workers, aproblem cited by some interviewees. Here, regionalWorkforce Investment Boards (WIBs) might be keyplayers for the coordination of these kinds of efforts.

4. Expand leadership of WIBs and Chambers ofCommerce in helping immigrant entrepreneurs tonetwork and access information and availableresources aimed at capacity building of businesses.

5. State governments should utilize their resources toprovide technical assistance and capacitybuilding services to small businesses in Leisure andHospitality. At some point, state governments maywant to extensively survey the experiences ofimmigrant entrepreneurs to ensure that appropriateservices for this population are available.

These policy goals would not only expand the workforceand make it more competitive but would enable statesto benefit from the strong presence of immigrants. Thiswould keep Leisure and Hospitality businesses competitive and attractive to a host of markets todayand in the future.

Methodology

The methodology for this study incorporates severalcomponents: identification and collection of literatureand reports published by government, foundations andother organizations that focus on immigration inLeisure and Hospitality businesses in Massachusetts.The study is partially based on a review of data publishedby the Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. CensusBureau including information extracted from theAmerican Community Survey’s Public Use Microdatasamples and Current Population Surveys. Variouskinds of data from state labor and workforce agenciesand other organizations were utilized by the researchteam. These agencies include: MassachusettsDepartment of Workforce Development; RhodeIsland Department of Labor and Training; VermontDepartment of Labor; Maine Department of Laborand the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Additionally,proprietary data from sources such as InfoUSA,Claritas and Applied Geographic Solutions were utilizedto construct some tables and analyze information.

The team conducted a content analysis of news articlesand popular media covering a range of stories onimmigration in these New England businesses. Adescriptive and informational survey was designed forkey informants familiar with issues related to immigrationin Leisure and Hospitality businesses in Massachusetts.

Thirty-two individuals were contacted between Apriland August 2009. Some provided feedback via open-ended interviews; a few responded via email. Potentialinterviewees were identified through state associations,literature review, content analysis of news reports andtargeting specific businesses in various geographicareas. The interviews reflect a range of entrepreneurs,owners, workers and industry representatives. Theirimmigrant ancestry included Brazilian, Cambodian,Irish, Czech, Vietnamese, Colombian, African,Dominican and Venezuelan. Most of the intervieweesare based in Massachusetts but also include representationfrom New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut andMaine.

Some of the questions used for the open-ended interviewsincluded:

• What is the role of immigrants in your company or industry?

• What kinds of contributions are associated withimmigrant workers?

• What kinds of challenges are faced by your companyand industry and how are they related to issues ofimmigration?

• What kinds of programmatic or policyrecommendations would you make in terms ofimmigration and your industry’s current andfuture health?

• How do you respond to the problem of laboravailability?

• What are some of the best ways to sustain immigrantworker retention?

• What are the training needs for immigrant workers;are they different than for other workers?

• How do you assess youth perceptions aboutHospitality businesses?

• How does the national debate about immigrationand federal laws impact your company or industry?

• What kinds of issues related to unauthorizedimmigrant workers impact your company or thesector?

• Do you know of immigrant entrepreneurs whohave started or managed businesses in your sector?

Information about immigrant businesses and the numberof employees in Travel and Accommodations in New


England (see Chart 1 in the report) are based on the2006 Current Population Survey: Annual Social andEconomic (ASEC) Supplement Survey. The CensusBureau conducts the ASEC over a three-month period.It is based on survey questions derived from the CPS, alabor force survey that provides estimates of the economic status and activities among individuals inthe population as well as a set of supplemental questionstapping, among other things, the number of hoursworked per week, work experience, occupation andindustry of persons 15 years and older and socio-demo-graphic characteristics.


Footnotes1 The terms “immigrant” and “foreign-born” are used interchangeably in this report. Immigrants can be citizens or non-citizens.

An immigrant entrepreneur is defined as someone who was born outside of the United States and has identified him/herself

as a class of worker who is self-employed in the American Community Survey or Current Population Survey.

2 Foreign-born and immigrant do not include Puerto Ricans, or any persons born in U.S. territories who are citizens by birth.

3 See Table 2, “Employment Shares and Location Quotients by Major Industry Sector U.S. and Massachusetts, 2006 Annual

Average Private Employment/Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development, LMI Profile: Annual Profile for

Massachusetts, March 2008, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development

4 Career Guide to Industries (BLS, 2008). Accessed on September 29, 2009. Available at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cg1009.htm

5 Career Guide to Industries (BLS, 2008). Accessed on September 29, 2009. Available at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cg1009.htm

6 See bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.tab4.txt

7 James C. Franklin, “An Overview of BLS Projections to 2016.” Monthly Labor Review, November 2007. See Table 4.

8 See, BLS, Career Guide to Industries: Hotels and Other Accommodations Table 1: Employment of wage and salary workers

in hotels and other accommodations by occupation, 2006 and projected change, 2006-2016; published March 12, 2008).

Occupations within these industries are wide-ranging. Under Food Services and drinking places it can include executives; food

service managers; chefs and head cooks; managers of food preparation; cooks for fast foods, institution and cafeterias, restaurants,

and short orders; food preparation workers; bartenders; counter attendants; waiters and waitresses; dishwashers; hosts and hostesses;

building cleaning workers; cashiers; office and administrative support workers; transportation and material moving workers and

others. In addition to these kinds of occupations, and under Hotel and accommodations, workers can be employed as general

and operations managers; lodging managers; meeting and convention planners; security guards; janitors and cleaners; maids and

housekeeping cleaners; landscaping and grounds keeping workers; gaming supervisors; concierges; recreation workers; sales

representatives; switchboard operators; hotel, motel, resort desk clerks; ticket agents; installation, maintenance, and repair

workers; laundry and dry-cleaning workers; drivers and chauffeurs; parking lot attendants and others; see BLS, Career Guide,

September 24, 2008.

9 David L. Bartlett, “Building a Competitive Workforce: Immigration and the U.S. Manufacturing Sector.” Immigration Policy

IN FOCUS, vol. 5, Issue 6 (August 2006). See Figure 1 and Figure 2.

10 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table A-11: Unemployed Persons by Industry and Class of Worker, Not Seasonally Adjusted (April 2003).

11 “Massachusetts Job Vacancy Survey: Hiring Trends by Industry and Occupation, 2nd Quarter” (Mass DWD, 2008, p. 2).

12 Ibid, p. 2.

13 Ibid, p. 15.

14 The State of Working Massachusetts 2008: Entering a Recession After a Recovery That Missed Many. Massachusetts Budget

and Policy Center, January 1, 2009.

15 Bo Zhao, “Outlook for Massachusetts Hospitality Industry.” New England Public Policy Center, July 10, 2007.

Footnotes16 Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. Leisure, Hospitality, and Tourism in the Ocean State, (2006, p. 1).

17 Current Employment Statistics Monthly Survey, Vermont Department of Labor, Labor Market Information Section,

December 2008.

18 Maine Department of Labor, Labor Market Information Services. Available at http://www.maine.gov/labor/labor_stats/index.html.

19 A World of Opportunity, Center for an Urban Future (New York: February 2007).

20 See David Turcotte and Linda Silka, “Social Capital in Refugee and Immigrant Communities,” in James Jennings, Ed., Race,

Neighborhoods, and the Misuse of Social Capital (Palgrave MacMillan: New York, 2007).

21 See Ramon Borges-Mendez, et al., Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Neighborhood Revitalization (The Immigrant Learning

Center, Inc., December 2005).

22 Selected Population Profile in the United States: 2005-2007. American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates (Massachusetts).

23 See “Table: Economic Structure of Massachusetts Areas by Industry, 2006 Annual Average” in Labor Market Information

Profile: Annual Profile for Massachusetts March 2008, Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development, Executive

Office of Labor and Workforce Development).

24 Labor Market Information Profile: Annual Profile for Massachusetts May 2009, Massachusetts Department of Workforce

Development, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, p. 2.

25 See Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development, “CES-790 Selection Criteria: Geographic Area:

Massachusetts Industry: Leisure and Hospitality – Seasonally Adjusted.”

26 Eric Tucker, “Summer employers brace for shortage of foreign workers.” Brattleboro Reformer, April 28, 2008.

27 Also see, Ellen G. Lahr, “Red Lion Inn helps by helping bridge language gap.” The Berkshire Eagle, June 28, 2005. Also, Lynn

Ariditi, “New Arrivals: Using informal networks of friends and family, immigrants are finding work in New England’s growing

service economy.” The Providence Journal, August 7, 2005.

28 Andy Smith, “Newport may be scrambling for summer help.” The Providence Journal, March 14, 2008.

29 “NAICS Industrial Codes by Nativity and Occupation,” ACS//Public Use Microdata Sample/2007.

News Articles

Arditi, L. (2005, August 7). New Arrivals: Using informal networks of friends and family, immigrants are findingwork in New England's growing service economy. The Providence Journal.

Arditi, L. (2007, May 24). R.I. job growth forecast is flat for 2007, but jumps for 2008. The Providence Journal.

Berger, J. (2008, March 16). Diners in changing hands. The New York Times.

Blanton, K. (2002, November 9). Labor’s new accent ‘90s immigration altered the face of Mass. employment. TheBoston Globe.

Erlich, M. (2004, May 3). A freeze on Cape's fried-clam force. The Boston Globe.

Fanto, C. (2008, April 4). An enlightened view of immigration. The Berkshire Eagle.

Grimaldi, P. (2007, September 14). Hospitality group raises issues of immigration workers. The ProvidenceJournal.

Harrison, J. (2007, March 8). Bill targets human trafficking. Bangor Daily News.

Holland, J. (2004, April 11). New England’s summer resorts feel pinch of visa cap. The Providence Journal.

Kim, A. (2007, March 8). Lawmakers weigh law on human trafficking; State House: A bill would affect travelagencies and matchmakers as well. Portland Press Herald.

Kittredge, C. (2004, May 2). Tourism businesses rattled by cap on temporary visas. The Boston Globe.

Lahr, E.G. (2005, June 19). Red Lion Inn helps itself by helping bridge language gap. The Berkshire Eagle.

Malinowski, W.Z. (2007, December 24). Jobs study: Invest in immigrant work force. The Providence Journal.

Murphy, M. (2008, April 29). Patrick urges visa reform. The Berkshire Eagle.

Rhor, M. (2005, January 16). Resettlement agencies help refugees gain jobs, lives. The Boston Globe.

Smith, A. (2007, November 4). Panel promotes food service and hospitality careers. The Providence Journal.

Smith, A. (2008, March 14). Newport may be scrambling for summer help. The Providence Journal.

Smith, A. (2008, April 13). Help wanted DESPERATELY! Immigration stalemate in Congress keeps needed summerworkers out of Rhode Island. The Providence Journal.

News Articles

Smith, A. (2008, May 11). Bleak job market for teens looks to be bleaker. The Providence Journal.

Smith, J. (2008, December 9). Her Sales are sweet. The Berkshire Eagle.

The Boston Globe (2006, December 11). African-Americans need apply. p. A12.

The Boston Globe (2007, August 5). Help wanted? Work needed? $2m to the rescue.

The Patriot Ledger (2007, May 22). Our opinion; a very good effort.

The Patriot Ledger (2008, May 16). Speak out-Immigrant Help; Federal guest worker program needs reform.

The Providence Journal (2008, June 8). Refugees a boon to summer businesses.

The Providence Journal (2008, July 8). Rhode Islanders don't find immigration a top issue.

Turkel, T. (2005, May 6). Where will Maine find workers?; The state must deal with a retirement boom and slowpopulation growth in the next decade, a report says. Portland Press Herald.

Tucker, E. (2008, April 28). Summer employers brace for shortage of foreign workers. Brattleboro Reformer.

Ziner, K.L. (2006, August 18). Latinos in RI – An expanding presence. The Providence Journal.

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Flom LLPSovereign BankSparks Department StoreStanhope Garage, Inc.StaplesState Street BankStevens and Ciccone Assoc., P.C.Stifel Nicolaus & Co.Stoneham Savings BankStreetwear, Inc.Sullivan & Worcester LLPThe Silverman Group/Merrill LynchThe Tom and Kate Ellis Charitable FundTJX FoundationUBS Investment BankVerizonWorld EducationYawkey Foundation II

ILC Donors

Mr. Anthony F. AbellDr. & Mrs. M. A. AliapouliosMs. Helen J. Rubel & Mr. Neal C. AllenMr. and Mrs. Socrates AntonopoulosMr. & Mrs. Arthur C. AntonMs. Gayathri ArumughamMr. Richard AucoinDr. Susan L. Cahill & Mr. Frank J. BaileyMr. & Mrs. Victor N. BalteraMr. & Mrs. George BehrakisMs. Judith BennettMr. & Mrs. Evrett BentonMr. & Mrs. David BlackmanMrs. Shirley Snow BlueMr. & Mrs. Ethan BornsteinMr. & Mrs. Paul BornsteinMr. & Mrs. Stuart BornsteinMr. Barry BragenMr. Daniel F. BridgesMr. Albert R. BroudeDr. & Mrs. Paul ButtenwieserMrs. Dale P. CabotMs. Evie Callahan & Staff at The GablesMr. & Mrs. Krishan CanekeratneMr. & Mrs. Leon M. Cangiano, Jr.Ms. Rosa CappuccioMs. Denise J. CasperMr. Eddie CasselMs. Fatima ChibaneMr. & Mrs. Frederick CiceroMr. & Mrs. William ClarkMs. Donnaleigh Coolidge-MillerMr. & Mrs. Ralph CoteMr. & Mrs. Donald CummingsMr. William CurryMs. Alison D’AmarioMr. George DanisMs. Jane Willis & Mr. Richard A.

Davey, Jr.Ms. Pamela DegrootMr. & Mrs. Kevin DelbridgeMr. Timothy W. DeLessioMs. Susan Schwartz & Mr.

Patrick DinardoDr. & Mrs. Douglas DobenMr. & Mrs. Patrick DonelanMs. Eileen N. DooherMr. & Mrs. Richard A. Doyle

Ms. Margaret DreesMr. Philip DrewMs. Adelina DrumondDr. & Mrs. Stanley J. DudrickMs. Doreen EramianMr. & Mrs. John S. EricksonMr. & Mrs. John G. FallonMrs. Liliya Pustilnick & Mr.

Volko FaynshteynMr. & Mrs. Thomas J. FitzgeraldMr. & Mrs. Carlos FloresMr. & Mrs. Richard W. FournierMs. Aleda FreemanMr. Max GandmanDr. & Mrs. Bruce M. GansMr. & Mrs. Richard GarverMs. Pamela P. GiannatsisMr. & Mrs. Paul R. GiblinMs. Barbara D. GilmoreMr. & Mrs. Bill GilmoreMr. & Mrs. Vladimir GofmanDr. & Mrs. Ronald P. GoldbergMr. & Mrs. Brian GoodmanMr. Lawrence L. GrayMr. and Mrs. Peter GrieveMr. Charles H. GriffithMs. Nancy S. GrodbergMr. & Mrs. Robert GrodbergMrs. Gail GuittarrMr. Charles J. GulinoMr. & Mrs. Boris S. GurevichMr. & Mrs. Michael HaleyMr. & Mrs. Jeff HansellMr. Thomas HargraveMr. & Mrs. John L. HarringtonMr. & Mrs. Terence J. HeagneyMr. & Mrs. David HegartyMr. & Mrs. Warren HeilbronnerMr. & Mrs. Paul HenniganMs. Janice J. HigginsMr. Neil C. HigginsMr. & Mrs. John HindelongMr. John R. HoadleyBrother Timothy HoeyMs. Marcia D. HohnMr. & Mrs. David C. HortonMr. & Mrs. Richard F. HughesMr. & Mrs. Franklin M. Hundley

Mr. Raymond IlgMr. Reno R. JamesMs. Holly G. JonesMr. & Mrs. Hugh R. JonesMr. Todd A. JohnstonMs. Brenda Jovenich & Dr. Joseph TerlatoMr. Ralph KaplanMrs. Katherine KaragianisMs. Esther N. KaringeMr. & Mrs. Henry KatzDr. David M. KilpatrickMrs. Lynne KinderMs. Kristina KingMr. & Mrs. Mark L. KleifgesMs. Kathleen Klose & Mr. Jay HarrisMs. Elza KoinMr. & Mrs. Arthur G. KoumantzelisMr. & Mrs. Petr KurlyanchickMr. & Mrs. William LamkinMr. Joseph D. LampertMs. Mary Louise LarkinMr. Vern D. LarkinMr. & Mrs. Joseph F. Lawless IIIMs. Christy Trang Le & Mr. Sonny X. VuMr. & Mrs. David M. LeporeMr. & Mrs. Michael LinskeyMr. & Mrs. Paul R. LohnesMr. & Mrs. Carlos LopezMr. Fishel LoytskerMr. & Mrs. Jeffrey R. LynchMr. & Mrs. Edward Mackay, Jr.Mr. & Mrs. Bruce MackeyMs. Katherine MahoneyMr. Don MalkinMs. Carmel A. Shields & Mr. John

A. MannixMr. & Mrs. Roger M. MarinoMr. & Mrs. Joseph J. MarottaMr. & Mrs. Gerard M. MartinMs. Gina Matarazzo & Mr. Frank DeltortoMr. & Mrs. Alan MayMrs. Maria McDermottMr. & Mrs. David A. McKayMr. & Mrs. Patrick M. MerlinoMr. & Mrs. Thomas L. MichelmanMr. & Mrs. Robert MillerMr. & Mrs. Adam MilskyMr. Kevin P. Mohan

ILC Donors

Mr. & Mrs. Charles G. NahatisMr. Joseph H. NewbergMs. Emily NewickMr. & Mrs. Owen NicholsMr. & Mrs. Andrew C. NickasMs. Carmen NistorMr. Alexander A. Notopoulos, Jr.Ms. Ingrid H. NowakMs. Karen Oakley & Mr. John MerrickMr. Thomas M. O'BrienMr. & Mrs. Richard M. O'KeefeMs. Sakina Paige & Mr. Jamal ThomasMs. Phyllis PatkinMr. & Mrs. Robert D. PayneMr. & Mrs. Richard E. PearlMs. Judith M. PerlmanMs. Marianne PesceMs. Ellie Miller & Mr. Freddy PhillipsMr. & Mrs. Nicholas PhilopoulosMichele & John PopeoMs. Evelore N. PorasMr. & Mrs. Adam D. PortnoyMr. & Mrs. Barry M. PortnoyMs. Norma PortnoyMr. & Mrs. Charles PoulosMs. Anne T. PressmanMr. Ronald A. PressmanMr. & Mrs. Thomas L. RandMr. & Mrs. Andrew RebholzMr. & Mrs. Philip Redmond

Mr. & Mrs. Richard P. RichardsonMr. & Mrs. Vincent J. RiversMs. Susan RojasMr. & Mrs. Rex RudyMs. Joanne Seymour & Mr. Brian RuhMr. George SafiolDr. Yves SalomonMr. Nicholas SarrisMr. Timothy Rodriguez & Mr. Joseph

R. SaucierMr. & Mrs. Michael SchaeferMs. Diana SchwalbeMs. Nanda ScottMr. John SchneiderMr. & Mrs. Martin D. ShafiroffMr. & Mrs. William J. SheehanMr. & Mrs. Jason SilvermanMs. Jody E. SkiestMs. Kathy G. SmithMs. Marcia SpectorMs. Zhanna StalboMr. Lee C. SteeleStudents of The ILCMr. David SydneyMr. Gary SullivanMr. & Mrs. Geoffrey H. SunshineMr. & Mrs. Makoto SuzukiMr. & Mrs. Richard TellerMr. & Mrs. Nick ThakoreMr. & Mrs. Chris Thompson

Mr. & Mrs. George T. ThompsonMs. Jennifer ThompsonMr. & Mrs. Thomas N. TrklaMr. & Mrs. Joseph TrusteyMr. Chris TsaganisMs. Kathleen TullbergMs. Laurie Vance & Mr. David LyonsMr. & Mrs. Theodore C. VassilevDavide & Jennifer ViscoDr. & Mrs. Amnon WachmanMr. & Mrs. Neil WalshMr. & Mrs. Robert WassallMr. & Mrs. Morris WatkinsMr. & Mrs. James B. WhiteMr. & Mrs. Mark WhiteMs. Anne WilliamsMr. & Mrs. Randy WilliamsonMr. & Mrs. Jeffry WisniaMs. Beth S. WitteMr. Christopher J. WoodardMr. Mark YoungMs. Jodie ZalkMs. Clotilde ZannetosMr. & Mrs. David ZimmermanMr. & Mrs. Stephen Zubricki, Jr.Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Zubricki, III

About The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC)And The ILC Public Education Program

The ILC is a not-for-profit adult learning center located in Malden, Massachusetts. Founded in 1992, the mission of The ILC is to provide foreign-born adults with the English proficiency necessary to lead productivelives in the United States. As a way of continuing to help ILC students and all immigrants become successfulworkers, parents and community members, the school expanded its mission to include promoting immigrants asassets to America. This expanded mission is known as the Public Education Program.

The Public Education Program has four major initiatives to support the goal of promoting immigrants as contributors to America’s economic, social and cultural vibrancy.

• Business Sector Studies to examine the impact of immigrants as entrepreneurs, workers and consumers.• Professional Development for K-12 teachers on teaching immigration across the curriculum.• Briefing books with researched statistics on immigrant issues such as immigrants and taxes, immigrants and

jobs and immigrant entrepreneurship.• The Immigrant Theater Group.

Diane Portnoy is the co-founder and director of The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. and has been in the adulteducation profession for over 30 years as a certified teacher. Ms. Portnoy has received considerable recognitionlocally and nationally for her visionary leadership. The ILC has been cited as a model adult education programin Massachusetts.

The Public Education Program is under the direction of Marcia Drew Hohn who holds a doctorate in Humanand Organizational Systems and has over 20 years of experience in adult learning and systems development. Dr. Hohn has published extensively about organizational systems in adult basic education and developing healthliteracy among low-literate populations.

The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.442 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5117

(781) 322-9777www.ilctr.org

The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.Material may be reproduced in whole or in part if The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.

and the authors are credited.

The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. would like to thank Mystic View Design, Inc. and Merrill Corporation for their generous donationsof time, services and creativity in the design and printing of this report.

DirectorDiane Portnoy

Co-Founders

Diane PortnoyJoan Broude

Board of TrusteesArthur G. KoumantzelisILC Board Chair, AGK Associates LLC

Frank J. BaileyU.S. Bankruptcy Judge

Joel G. BeckmanNystrom Beckman & Paris LLP

Daniel F. BridgesRetired, Belmont Hill School ILC Volunteer

Fatima Z. ChibaneILC Instructor

Richard A. Davey, Jr.Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Patrick DonelanLifetime Board Member

Penny GarverSovereign Bank, New England

Roger F. Harris, Ph.D.Boston Renaissance Charter School

Marcia Drew Hohn, Ed.D.ILC Director of Public Education

Holly G. JonesILC Guidance Counselor and ESOL Program Coordinator

Esther N. KaringeMedford Public Schools

Joseph F. LawlessPatriot RC & Development Corp.

Christy Trang LeAlabaster Design

Gerard M. MartinNorth Atlantic Medical Services, Inc.

Richard M. O’KeefeCitizens Bank

Barry M. PortnoyReit Management and Research LLC

Vincent J. RiversPyramis Global Advisors/Fidelity Investments

John R. SchneiderMassINC

Jason SilvermanThe Silverman Group/Merrill Lynch

Kathy G. SmithILC Director of Development

Reena I. ThadhaniMintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C.

Stanley J. Usovicz, Jr.Verizon

Anne L. WilliamsWashington Mills Corporation

ILC Board of Trustees

www.mystic-view.com

Mystic View Design and Merrill Corporation proudly support the efforts of The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.

www.merrillcorp.com

With Support From:


Hospitality Businesses:Massachusetts and New England

Documents

Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Workers in Leisure and … · Marcia Drew Hohn, Ed.D. ILC Director of Public Education Holly G. Jones ILC Guidance Counselor and ESOL Program